Women in the UK have worrying gaps in their understanding of breast cancer, according to a new report.

Cancer Research UK asked 1,496 women: "When is a woman most likely to get breast cancer?"

Only one per cent of respondents were aware that women aged 80 or older have the greatest risk of developing the disease. More than half (56 per cent) of respondents were of the belief that age does not affect breast cancer risk at all.

According to the most recent statistics, one in 70 women will develop breast cancer between the ages of 40 and 50. One in every 25 women between the ages of 80 and 90 will develop the disease.

Misconceptions about risk have been blamed on the fact that women are not routinely invited for breast screening after the age of 70. The media has also played a part, by focusing on younger women - such as Kylie Minogue - who have suffered from breast cancer.

Kath Moser, consultant researcher at Cancer Research UK's Cancer Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, said: "These results offer an insight into what women believe about their breast cancer risk. Unfortunately the reality is very different from what most women believe. Breast cancer risk increases with age and is highest in women over 80."

The worry among the authors of the new report is that basic misunderstandings are preventing women from seeing their doctor. Many will have noticed symptoms but will feel they are somehow in the wrong age category.

It is thought that early detection through screening saves approximately 1,400 lives each year in England alone. Cancers detected in screened women are also smaller and the likelihood of needing a mastectomy is much reduced.

Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes and co-author of the study, said: "Confusion over who is most at risk of breast cancer is a real concern. Less than one per cent of those surveyed were aware that women over 80 are most at risk of developing breast cancer. Women need to understand that their risk increases with age.

"If older women wrongly think they are at a lower risk, they may be less likely to attend screening appointments or even report breast cancer symptoms," she added.

In 2003, 44,000 people in the UK were diagnosed with breast cancer and 300 of these were men. Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, affecting one in every nine women during the course of a lifetime.

© Adfero Ltd